Impact of Audit Committee Characteristics on The Financial Performance of Listed Non-Financial Firms in Nigeria

Abstract

in an attempt to assess the Impact of Audit Committee Attributes on Financial Performance in non-financial firms in Nigeria. This research investigates how audit committee attributes influence the financial performance of listed non-financial firms in Nigeria over a 10-year period (2013-2022). The study focuses on the relationship between audit committee which is the independent variable proxy by audit committee size, audit committee independence, and financial expertise, as well as the impact of audit committee meetings on financial performance which is proxy by return on asset. The dependent variable analysed is financial performance, which is approximated by return on assets. Population and Sample: The study selected a sample of 76 firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange from a larger population of 113 firms. data was sourced from published annual reports, and the analysis of the extracted secondary data was multiple regression techniques.

Findings: the study found that only two among the independent variables (audit committee size and audit committee financial expertise) have a positive and significant relationship with return on asset. While audit committee independence and audit committee meetings have an insignificant relationship with return on asset.

Recommendations: the study recommends that financial reporting council should increase the required minimum number of meetings conducted by the committee and also the number of committee members should be increased.